I have a duty of placing on record certain basic facts of history-making endeavours of this lovely musical duo Mudhra Bhaskar & Radha Bhaskar. Like several other artistes, I feel part and parcel of Mudhra & Samudhra. I am proud to be one of the innumerable readers of this wonderful magazine. All of us naturally need to have a livelihood. But in today's materialistic fast changing society, full of tough competition and to a certain great extent, an ugly rat race in almost all spheres of activities, what will happen when money alone is not the criteria ? Constructive endeavours like that of Mudhra & Samudhra take place in the beautiful canvas of our vast cultural scenario. For Bhaskar & Radha, making money is like the incidental“Thukkada” but service to culture is their main “Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi”.
While Bhaskar's balancing of time between printing jobs, Mudhra and Mridangam is highly commendable, Radha, the worthy and eloquent editor of Samudhra, through her strong academic achievements has become a name synonymous with music appreciation. It is now a well known fact that our classical music and dance is absolutely safe in the hands of innumerable youngsters who  I am sure  will take it to greater heights with their absolutely amazing talents. But are we comfortable with the proportionate increase in the rasikas category ? How do they, especially youngsters appreciate the concerts ? What about the audience turnout ? The answer is simple  Radha's Music Appreciation Programme  which is a silent revolution in the cultural field has already gained tremendous momentum.
My aunt Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam and my wife Dr. Gayatri Kannan join me in greeting Samudhra on its anniversary and pray to Goddess Lakshmi & Saraswati to jointly bless Radha & Bhaskar to continue their meaningful service to the cause of our great cultural heritage through the innovative activities of Mudhra and Samudhra. - B. Kannan (Veena  Vidhwan)

It is heartening to note that well-known Carnatic vocalist Smt Seetha Narayanan has been honoured by Charubala Mohan Trust recently. She is an outstanding vocalist who is fortunate to have had distinguished  gurus such as  Nagerkoil Hariharaiyer, P.K.Rajagopalaiyer, DR S Ramanathan and Chingleput  Ranganathan. She has a rich, majestic voice, sruthi- aligned and her proficiency in every aspect of musical rendition in a concert ,clarity of sahithyam, her ability to sing rare compositions with remarkable ease makes her someone very special to music lovers. As a rasika, I am grateful to Charubala Mohan trust for their right choice for the title of "Sangeetha Kala Praveena" - J.Natarajan, Chennai

In the editorial, description of  different types of music is both informative and educative  A layman will understand this wonderful art better from the way it has been dealt. There is no equal to this God's gift, and music in any form will be cherished for ever.  Singing the glory of God is the easiest and purest form of devotion and should be adopted by everyone.
Prof. SRJ is my revered Guru, who taught me Annamacharya kritis. I adore his teaching expertise. He is generous in imparting whatever he had acquired from his Gurus. He accepts no deviation and expects verbatim rendering by his students.  He is a strict disciplinarian. It will be a boon to those, who get to learn from this genius. Prof. SRJ must live long to carry-on this yeoman service to music. - Pathamadai Mani Sundaram, Chennai-78

I read with deep anguish about sad demise of Shri.T.K.Govinda Rao. I as a music rasika, express my hearty condolences to the bereaved family and pray for his soul to rest in peace. I have heard about Shri.Govinda Rao ever since late 60's, when he was in Delhi. He used to teach some students (very methodically and systematically), who have come talented musicians. He is not only a great musician of traditional singing, but also a great musicologist, a good teacher and a good author of useful and valuable books on music. Earlier, I was lamenting that there are no authentic material such as books, pamphlets, CD's etc., available on Kannada compositions/kritis, especially of  PurandaraDasa and Kanaka Dasa. I came to hear that Shri.Govinda Rao was compiling all Kannada kritis/compositions and writing a book. I am not sure whether this book was completed and available now. He has a strong voice and he used to sing very traditionally; he also used to sing "apoorva kritis" and 'apoorva ragas'. He was really a maestro.
Also, apropos of your editorial, "The shades &c colours of music" in the October issue of "Samudhra". True, folk songs do reflect the cultural ethos and religious sentiments/feelings of the different regions. As you have rightly said, the regional folk music, though raw, has its own charm.
I have been lamenting that Kannada compositions and kritis of great composers, especially Purandara Dasa,Kanakadasa and others are not given due importance/ attention by musicians in concerts. True, "Abhangs" of Maharashtra and Hindi "Bhajans" of North India have entered into the Carnatic Music concert formats.There is nothing wrong as long as these 'Abhangs" and "Bhajans" are sung during the last part of the concert in the form of 'thukkadas.' - S.Santhanam, Chennai.

This is with reference to your article on Airtel Supersinger 3 in the October issue. As a regular viewer of the show, I wish to share my views through Samudhra with regard to selecting the right and most deserved candidate. The month long process of evaluation, elimination and selection of the right candidate for the Super Singer by a panel of expert judges elevated  Satyaprakash and Pooja as right contestants for the final. What a great pity that both of them have been relegated to the second and third Runner- up, much to the discontentment and dissatisfaction of lakhs of viewers because of public voting, keeping the judges at t heir wit's end. Public opinion had over- rided the scrutinisation by the expert judges making the show a “Popular singer” instead of “Super singer.” In this context, voice expert Ananth Vaidhyanathan deserves all kinds of encomiums and applauds for his exemplary and extraordinary role in honing the hidden talents of each participant giving rigorous training in difficult genres of music and elevating a raw singer to the level of super singer. Vijay TV has been doing an excellent job through this show. - R.Pitchumani, Thippirajapuram

I went through your admirable and forthright views on the current scenario of music in our country. It is a pity that music is not occupying its rightful place in this part of the sub-continent. Still it is considered to be useful as a time-passing entertainment ! But not so, in Western and European countries. There, they have recognised music as a prime life-supporting, life-enhancing skill and therefore it has been meticulously dove-tailed in the school curriculum. Children up to fifteen years, assiduously learn music, mostly instrumental. At the end, one in three of them become a full fledged artiste, either in playing Sax, Clarinet or Drum. At the end of the school courses, they fend off happily into this world, as a skillful musician. They join band groups or jazz groups and trot this globe, earning bagful of money! The parents there see their children going out into this world at a prime age. There, they are not worried about the child's aptitude towards a course in engineering or medicine, as these courses are so costly in colleges and universities and out of the reach of the middle class families. Along with music, fifteen other courses are also offered in the vocational stream. They include, carpentry, plumbing, painting and electrical wiring. In U.K., it is said that a plumber earns more than a professor in the university !
Here in our country, the educational system gives importance only to cramming and scoring hundred out of hundred marks in mathematics, physics and chemistry. This develops only the left side of the brain of the children. What about the right side, which is the repository of creative and combative abilities ? No attention is paid to this aspect in our schools.
Music must become a compulsory component of the school syllabus. Hats off to individuals like you, who try to create an awareness among the public, through music education/appreciation programmes all through the year. This is a self-less effort and it has to be recognised by the highest echelons of the government, both in the state and the centre. Such individuals are very rare and they are only a handful. I have seen in Orissa, Maharashtra and Gujarath, the Sansthan of Kala Bikash Kendra doing a marvelous task in inculcating the musical aspects among school children. In Mayurbhanj and Sambalpur of Orissa, an individual by name Bhagaban Sahu, [a national award
winner] is teaching the famous 'Chau' dance free to young boys. Such schools teaching music and dance free to young boys and girls exist in U.P.,  Punjab and Haryana also. What about our state?
        In order to impart music and dance to the youth, the Central government, last year,  went on to start six Universities exclusively. One has started functioning in Mysore from last year. Similarly private universities, like
Indira Music University in Gwalior is doing yeoman service to the cause of music and dance. I only wish and pray that individuals like you must be endowed with adequate resources to start such an institution in this part of the country.  - B.R.Kumar, Chennai-41